Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 6 Antalya

          Antalya has fallen. The seeds of progress it once held to, its relations with Hath turned to dust and dreams. The once bright capital of trade amongst the southern oceans has crumbled, and in their wake was a husk of what could have been Hath's most outstanding achievement. It was broken. Left to the will of an uncaring warlord, and even afterward silent neglect. But where there is neglect, there are those willing to use the "could haves" and the "must have been" for themselves. It did not take long before influential minds and hands seized from the shadows all they could covet from the light and plunged Antalya into a new age, where the influence of the Underlords dwarfed the officials' authority. Underlord Tuk, Underlord Ez, Underlord Culmin. These under lords have made the underbelly of this once prosperous city their home and wished not to waste anything. They wanted to squeeze this city dry of all it could be. But Underlord Bok, his ambition drove a lot deeper than his constituents. No, he wished not to take this city for what it's worth; he wanted to save it. Bok saw an empire of his own, under his rule and control. And so, he became an Underlord as well. But somehow, Bok could go where others couldn't. He evaded the law far more efficiently, getting connections out to smugglers, the highest classes of these, and the most significant access to arms from even the heavily sought-after magic of Torlak. And his influence grew incongruent. It came so that even the authority of the Viceroy herself could not stop him, as he retained himself to the shadows well.

       What kept Bok alive was knowing where to put his bets, where to go, and where not to go. His den, his fortress deep in the forgotten undercity beneath Antalya, served as his hub and where he intends to build his throne. Seldom are allowed to meet with this elusive figure. And among these rare individuals is Veronica Timbleton. She alone now approaches his dwellings. Afraid? No. Anxious? Maybe. Curious? Yes. He rarely summons her himself, and rarely is it this private. She stopped before his door. In this dimly lit area, she could barely make out the two shadowy figures standing before her. Just seeing them has struck some dark chord within her she could not comprehend. But they posed no threat to her, she supposed. They were just guards, gifted to Bok by his mysterious business partners over a year ago. They were silent but highly deadly, as she could attest to. She thought better not to think about them and walk past them as if they did not exist. Instead, she pushed open the doors into a large room, barely lit with more than candles here and there, and a chandelier above that casted blue light upon a shadowy figure sitting at the edge of a table. That was Bok. She stopped just before the opposite end of the table, hearing the doors close behind her, as it was just her and him now.

      "Sit," he spoke in a stern and rumbling tone. Veronica did so, though she placed her guns on the table as a simple gesture of respect.

     "You called me, sir?"

      "Yes," the light of a match temporarily lit a masked face, hiding all but piercing eyes before a cigar was kindled and placed in his mouth. "Did you hear? Something was stolen from that warlord inland. A significant thing I suppose."

      "I heard," she said. "Stolen in under an hour, rumor says. So what do you want me to do about it."

     A mist of smoke seeped from him, quickly filling the room with a dizzying scent. "I have deals, Veronica. I always have deals. I stay out of individual hairs unless I want to and when I'm sure it would be worth it. That Warlord and I were this close to settling a deal, and then, all of a sudden, this thing was taken. And the word is it's one of your men who ordered the theft."

     Sudden fear arose in her as she kept her voice from shaking too much. "I-If it's that much trouble, I can get it back, Sir Bok. So you need not worry."

     "It's too late," he said. "If the man was smart, he long sold it away. It's too late for redemption, it's time for punishment."

      "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it," she said. " lI'll gladly get rid of the bastard who ruins deals for you, and you know that."